Robbery of the Heart
by White Dragon X
Summary: What if the highwaymen in Oblivion were like the "noble" highwaymen of old? Plz Review.
1. Chapter 1

The sun had long ago reached its highest point in the sky and was now making its slow deliberate move down toward the western mountain range of the Colovian Highlands. The White Gold Tower stood resolute in the late afternoon sunlight, mirrored in symmetry by its own reflection in the soothing waters of Niben Bay. Waves of flickering heat rose off of rocks and bare, scorched earth. Birds that had been singing earlier in the day now sank into a lull of heat induced drowsiness.

A lone figure moved slowly, almost painfully slowly through the thick underbrush. The Khajiit labouredly placed one foot in front of the other, head drooping down with its chin against its chest. Further inspection of this person would have revealed blood dripping down the back of the female's legs, her left arm hanging ineffectually at her side, blood running down it as well. This Khajiit traveler was also unusual in the color of her fur; white like the downy feathers of a dove spotted with silver along her back. And that was what she was called: Silver.

Haze rising from the ground gave to illusion of water everywhere around her but it was only when she actually stumbled into a small pond did she finally stop for a moment. She sank to her knees and drank her fill of the cool clean water. Then she set about the task of cleaning her grievous wounds.

She washed her arm first, cleaning the dried blood from around the opening of the wound then examining it for any foreign debris. She grimaced as she saw bone at the bottom of the wound. She pulled a tattered shirt out of her backpack and ripped it in two.

She wrapped one of the two long strips around her arm and tied it there. She then tried to wash the gapping hole in her side without getting too wet but just touching the wound caused her more pain then just leaving it alone so she reluctantly left it as it was and tied the other strip of cloth around her waist to stop the blood flow.

_I definitely lost this fight,_ she thought to her self. _Maybe this was my last fight…_

In the midst of that last thought she drifted into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Wow in 1 ½ days I've had 30 hits on both of my stories!! I'm really freaked out that anyone would read my stories but…Oh Well.

I'm sorry the first chapter was really short but it was really an experiment to see if I could actually post it on the site. As soon as I knew I could do it I posted another one. Plz check that one out if you liked this one because it takes place in Morrowind. 

Read and Review!! Especially if you see a grammatical error because sometimes I don't catch those!! Just give me the chapter and the paragraph and tell me what's the matter with it. I really appreciate your support.

P.S. I have NO idea where I'm going with this story. The idea came from a dream I had a long time ago and I'm just trying to remember what happened in the dream.

--

Silver woke up soon after she had fallen into oblivion. The sun beat down unrelentingly as she lay in the sand for a moment trying to make the world stop spinning. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes, which felt heavy as if she needed to sleep.

Her ears perked as she heard a soft scuttling sound nearby. She lifted her head to see a small mudcrab looking back at her. Mudcrab are notorious scavengers and they can eat just about anything and what they really love to eat is the dead flesh of another animal. Silver shuddered as she remembered that tidbit of information and wondered if that was going to be her fate.

She stood up painfully and looked around her. The sun was just beginning to set ever so slightly but it was still too hot for her taste. _Morrowind was much more temperate_ she thought to herself.

The "pond" she had stopped at was actually a very small river, almost a stream that ended in a little pool. Yet small as the river was, someone had taken the time to build a bridge over it instead of just walking around it. Silver stumbled through the loose sand to get to it.

Under the bridge was a small gap of sand before the underside of the bridge reached down to the water. Silver examined it and wondered if she could use this for shelter for the night. It was certainly better than nothing. She used her good arm to dig out a small hole in the sand. The digging was slow going with only one arm and having to constantly stop to make sure that the open wound in her side hadn't started to bleed again.

When she had made a big enough hole for herself to sleep in comfortably she sat back in the sand and watched the sun set. It was sinking below the mountains to the West in an explosion of pinks and oranges. White Gold Tower was right in front of her, standing like a sentry above the surrounding countryside making her feel a little safer. As she watched she remembered that they had no emperor. _That's really depressing,_ she thought _all those people without someone to lead them. I wonder what will happen to this country now… _

Suddenly her attention was diverted from her wondering. The mudcrab she had seen earlier was just now catching up to her and she had only moved 5 yards and not only that but she had been working for two hours digging a hole. She rolled her eyes and took out a small dagger and held it in her lap, waiting.

When the creature got within arms reach she took the dagger and stabbed the thing in the middle of its hard shelled back. The outer shell cracked and splintered as she forced the blade down through the soft tissue. The creature didn't even flinch and when she pulled her dagger out of its back it fell in a slump. She grimaced as she wiped her dagger off. The thing looked like dinner but she knew better. Mudcrabs were notorious for being scavengers AND that their flesh made the worst meal in the world because the meat stank and if it wasn't cooked properly the bacteria in it could kill you if you weren't careful.

Silver sat wondering what to do with it now that it was dead. If she just left it as she slept it would attract scavengers and that was the last thing she wanted. She also had no interest in cooking it because that was a long and often fruitless activity.

Silver stood up laboriously and grabbed the crab. She walked a few yards until she found some bushes. She tossed it in the bushes and wiped her hands off on her filthy pants. By now the sun was almost completely set and stars were starting to peek out of the darkness. Silver looked above her at the familiar twin moons that guarded the land, casting a faint light to guide late night travelers.

Silver crawled into her hole in the sand, lying on the side that didn't have a chunk missing out of it and tried to fall asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

I'm trying to work on this story everyday for at least an hour

Thanks for reading it!! PLEASE GIVE ME REVIEWS!! I just want to know that someone _is_ actually reading this!! And of course what I can do better.

Sorry in advance for the long dream sequence.

--

Silver slept very little through that first long night. Her wounds, which hadn't really hurt before no matter how they looked now started to throb and bleed. She spent the night lying in the sand in pain. Somewhere around midnight things took a turn for the worse.

Silver stumbled down to the edge of the river and was violently ill into the water. When she had finished she rolled onto the sand and lay still and silently in total despair.

_I wish I wasn't all by myself, _she thought. _If only I had stayed in Morrowind where I belonged…_

Her dreams when she did sleep were plagued by images from her memories of her childhood. Khajiit slaves in chains working the fields of their owners, her mother being sold at auction for a rock bottom price of 200 septims, and her father tied to a wooden stake and whipped until he was dead for stealing food from their cruel owner. Then she dreamt of the day she was freed…

--

_Clouds filled the sky like angry carrion birds surrounding a kill. Lightning and thunder boomed and cracked over-head but the rain its self had yet to start falling. Strange men entered the slave hut where the females and the children slept. They carried torches and swords. They ordered the women and the children out into the night. Everyone was confused and curious. Children clung to their mothers' legs and the women huddled into rough circles whispering and watching. _

_Silver watched as the men started to drag out their possessions. Bed rolls, clothes, eating utensils, all packed into small rucksacks. Silver pulled her cloak tighter around her as she came closer to hear what was going on in one of the circles. _

"_This one heard that the master died in the night," an elderly Khajiit with a striped face whispered._

"_This one heard he was murdered!" a younger Khajiit with pale spots said excitedly._

"_But does that mean that he is dead then?" a third Khajiit asked who had a furry child clutched in her arms._

_No one knew that answer to that question so the circle lapsed into silence. They watched as the armed men dragged the rucksacks over to the women and distributed them to anyone that was near by. The women clustered around the sacks, fighting and arguing to get the bag that looked like it had the most of their possessions. Silver hung back with the elderly until the mothers and younger females had moved off to do trades. _

_The armed men stood near but they did nothing to stop the fighting or the disorderly way of things. Silver didn't trust them but she grabbed a bag anyway and quickly moved away so that they wouldn't see her. _

_When all of the women carried a sack of goods and had lapsed into wary silence again the men spoke to them. _

"_Clear out of here. The government has foolishly decided to free you. You are no longer held to this plantation and you may leave." The man that had spoken practically spat the words out of his mouth like a bad bite of food. _

_Silver was wary, even while the others turned to each other in stunned disbelief. _

"_What about our men?" one of the mothers called._

"_You men shall be freed in the morning, they pose more of a threat then you do and we would rather wait until we can see trouble than trusting them in the dark." _

_Silver suddenly didn't like that. She felt the fur rise on the back of her neck and her tail lashed under her cloak. Some of the women didn't like it either. The ones with children had husbands and they couldn't leave without them. _

_Silver wished she could say something. Instead she started walking. She went behind a hill then made a wide circle to the men's sleeping hut. She knew there was a back door to the men's hut which could be opened from the outside. When she was inside she found the men clustered together around the door, listening to the activities outside._

_Silver knocked softly on the wood of the hut. One of the men turned and glared at her for interrupting his listening but she raised a finger to her lips and motioned for him to follow her. He nudged one of his buddies and motioned at the open back door. Soon there was a slow line forming in front of the back door as one by one they slipped out. Silver watched them until she knew that all could get out, then she retraced her steps._

_Some of the women were still arguing with the armed men but most were sitting under a clump of trees nearby, content to wait for the dawn. Silver went to those under the tree motioned for them to follow her and that the men would be waiting for them on the other side of the hill. _

_No one knew why the men suddenly changed their minds and decided to open the men's cabin but when they did and didn't find any men inhabiting it they became very angry. Angry might not be the very best word but that was the word that circled inside Silver's head as she started to run. The entire plantation worth of Khajiit stampeded after her, the armed soldiers hot on their heels. _

_--_

When Silver awoke, the sun was starting to wonder if it was really going to make the long trip across the sky again for the Xth time. Silver lay in the shade of the bridge and gazed at the water trickling by. She reflected on her dream, knowing that not everything she had dreamed was true to what actually happened. For example, she had not been the brave one to free the males that night. That had actually been a desperate mother who had needed her husband.

As Silver thought these thoughts, the day started to unfold around her…


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for not updating for a while. I got a new computer and it was awhile before I got an actual writing program that worked. Sorry this is kinda short.

-- -- -- -- --

Kharjo ripped a massive bite out of the raw piece of mutton he was eating as casually as if it were an apple. He moved with a grace that only Khajiit can truly master and that all other races must be envious of. His dark orange fur and jet black spots showed he was healthy and strong. His gleaming elven cuirass was freshly polished and the glass claymore strapped to his back reflected the light in arching blazes of sparkling light.

Kharjo was moving down the paved stones of the Yellow Road as he headed toward his bridge. It was called "his" bridge because he was a high-way man and like all high-way men he had staked his claim and took great pride in sitting in the hot sun, sweating as he waited for a rich merchant to pass by. Sure the money was good on good days but on bad days it rained and stormed while no one ever came.

Yesterday had been a good day though. He had headed home before the worst of sun high with a small fortune in his money pouch. Unfortunately he had spent it all the night before on rounds for the gentlemen at the bar. He himself, who normally had a high tolerance for alcohol, had a splitting headache and the space behind his eyes burned. But he was determined to make back all the money he had lost the night before. Such was the curse of the highwayman.

When he rounded the curve of a hill, his bridge came into view. A tall willow tree temporarily shaded it from the morning sun. Dew was sparkling on the grass around the edge of the pool as the sun rose over the crest of the mountains.

But the first thing he noticed was the sand on the opposite bank. It was tossed and had lots of footprints all over it. Kharjo felt the fur on his back standing up in hostility at the thought of someone trespassing on his turf when he had his back turned. He stormed over the bridge and slid down through the sand to the water's edge. He followed the tracks with his eyes until he spotted what he was looking for.

A foot was sticking out from under the bridge. Kharjo snarled angrily and grabbed the ankle and pulled the person out from under the bridge.

-- -- -- --

Silver, who had heard the footsteps on the bridge above her had tried to get under the bridge completely but had been unsuccessful.

As the rough hand grabbed her foot, she snatched her little dagger and waited.

-- -- -- -- --

Kharjo pulled her out with one hand and reached for his claymore with the other. He had just drawn his sword when his victim rolled. A dagger flashed through the air as Silver stabbed him in the leg. Kharjo roared and let go of her leg to grip his sword with both hands.

Silver rolled out of the way as his claymore came crashing down onto the sand, sending the grains flying and sparkling in the sunlight. Silver drew her short sword and reeled to face her attacker.


	5. Chapter 5

New chapter people! Be happy and send me reviews!! I love to see those rare little e-mails in my inbox. ^.^

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Kharjo turned to face his victim but stopped short. He lowered his sword as he watched, stunned, as the other khajiit fell to her knees in the sand. Blood dripped from a wound in her side and a gash in her upper arm. Kharjo immediately knew that this person wasn't a threat.

Kharjo slowly lowered his sword to the ground and approached her carefully. Silver watched him with mistrust in her eyes. She was coughing, holding herself up with her shaking arms as she choked up blood. Blood pooled beneath her and she looked like a white and red devil...or maybe an angel?

Kharjo was within a foot of her when she lashed out at him. Her silver short sword flashed...and crashed ineffectually against his armor. The force of the sword bouncing off his armor sent her falling backwards into the sand. Her sword flew from her hand and splashed into the water behind her. Kharjo was pushed back with the force of her attack but kept his footing.

Silver lay on her back glaring up at him. Her sharp teeth were bared in distrust and she was growling like a feral beast.

"Who nears this one?" she snarled in a wheezy voice, made rough from pain.

"This one greets the hunter," Kharjo responded in a practiced age-old greeting.

She laid her ears back but said nothing. Kharjo eased himself down into the sand beside her. When she didn't try to attack him again, he judged it was safe. He wanted to say something but didn't know quite know what. She was watching him intently, her hostility still clearly evident.

Kharjo shrugged and looked off into the distance as he tried to gather his thoughts. He could see the suns reflection in Nibben Bay and watched the water distort the image. After a while his visitor became suspicious.

"What do you want from me?" she hissed.

Again Kharjo shrugged and abandoned Khajiit Cyrodiilic. "You were trespassing. I figured I should let you know."

Silver laid her ears back but her frown relaxed. "Thank you," she mumbled. "I should be going then before the owner gets here."

"The owner is here." he scoffed.

"Where?" she asked giving him a sly look.

Kharjo's lips parted in a debonair smile. "Right here."

"And would the owner care to help a lady in distress?" she purred, batting her eyelashes. It had been a long time since she had spoken to anyone that had been able to carry on a good play fight.

"And where would this lady be?" Kharjo asked teasingly.

Silver feigned offense and perked her ears again. "Why! Very far from here."

"Then I shall go to her," he chuckled. "Enough of that." he rumbled. "Now what can this humble highway man do for you?"

"I need some help," she confessed.

"I can see that," Kharjo replied, all play and fun forgotten. "What happened to you?"

Silver turned her head away, conveying that she didn't want to talk about it.

"Ah. No matter," Kharjo shrugged. "It matters not. What does matter is what we are going to do with you. And I think the best thing would be to get you fixed up."

Silver nodded her head and made a feeble attempt to get up. Before she could fall, however, he had scooped her up in his arms and was carrying her as though she was no heavier than a feather.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

A lively fire was set to burning as Kharjo sat back down next to Silver. Her wounds were patched up with clean bandages. Kharjo had found a new shirt for her and while it was quite large on her gaunt frame, she was once again comfortable.

The ham sizzled in the flames, popping as fat cooked and giving off a tantalizing scent. Silver's mouth was watering as she watched it. Kharjo noticed her hungry look at grabbed a slice of it out of the fire with his bare claws. He handed her the chunk and settle back down to sit while she munched it down.

When she was finished he turned to look at her. "So where are you from?" he inquired.

"Morrowind," she replied. "I was a slave there."

Kharjo felt hot indignation at the thought of the Khajiit slaves that had suffered in Morrowind over the years. "My father was a slave."

Silver nodded her sympathy but didn't speak further on the subject.

When their meal was finished and the flames started to die down, Kharjo sat up and brushed off his tunic. He dragged out an old tent made of sack cloth and pitched it. He rolled a bedroll into it and sat back on his haunches to look at it before looking at her.

"You can sleep here tonight." Kharjo explained. "I have some work that I need to do tonight. I'll be back in the morning." and with that he got up and walked away.

Silver watched his retreating back and wondered about him. She wanted to follow him but could already feel sleep starting to claim her. She crawled to the tent and laid down, not even bothering to turn down the blankets.

---- ----- ----- ----- -----

"Where is my money?"

"I'll have it soon. I swear."

"You had better. Or I'll make sure that you won't live long enough to come begging around here with your tail between your legs like you did last time. I'm not making another exception for you again."

"You won't have to. By this time next month both of us will be satisfied."

"You had better be telling the truth. Or I'll have your head."


End file.
